‘Fairalls’ can trace its origins back to 1900 when George Fairall started quarrying sand for bricklaying at Taylors Hill, Godstone. This sand was delivered to a wide variety of locations, initially by horse and cart, progressing to lorries as the years went on.
Rather than let these lorries return to the sandpit empty, the practice of buying demolition salvage in the form of old bricks, timbers, etc. from Croydon and the surrounding areas became commonplace. These materials were hauled back to the yard and re-sold. Naturally when you have sand and bricks for sale, sooner rather than later customers want to be able to buy cement and lime as well! The formation of a builders’ merchant was taking place.
Sand extraction ceased in the1980’s. Today, as well as the old sandpit at Taylors Hill, ‘Fairalls’ trades from a location in Godstone High Street (main office and light side depot) and also a mixed depot at Gatwick.
The Taylors Hill yard is a large site selling predominantly ‘heavy side’ building materials. That is to say bricks, blocks, sand, ballast, cement, etc. We also stock a comprehensive range of landscaping materials including a wide variety of natural stone in the form of decorative chippings, paving, walling and rockery. Our delivery fleet is administered from this site and consists of 12 vehicles in total. It is made up of a mixture of types ranging from 3.5 tonnes to 32 tonnes, with a variety of tipping and crane unloading facilities to enable the best choice of vehicle to be allocated to the job in hand and to suit our Customers’ needs. The site has in the region of 10,000 square feet of covered storage. Not only is this used for the storage of bagged products, we also keep substantial quantities of bricks under cover to enable us to provide dry bricks all year round; having been in the business for more than a few years, we appreciate that trying to lay wet bricks is a nightmare ….… ask any bricklayer!
The premises at 44 & 46, High Street, Godstone is our location for ‘light side’ building materials. These include decorating materials, plumbing, timber, boards, nails, screws, fencing and about 20,000 other products! Covered storage at this depot is in excess of 10,000 square feet and, as with the Taylors Hill yard, there is a large area for customer parking, vehicle unloading and stock storage. This depot also accommodates our Bathroom Showroom, Accounts and Main Administration office.
Our Gatwick depot opened in April 2011. It is a ‘mixed’ trade depot carrying a broad spectrum of product ranges. Newly built to our own design, it offers first class facilities for both Customers and Staff. Situated in a residential area we have gone to great lengths to respect the privacy of the local community by minimising noise, disruption, dust, etc. We offer delivery from this depot too, with the back-up of larger quantities of stock from our Godstone depots should your need require it.
Our aim is to provide Customers with what they need, from stock, as quickly as they need it. Most deliveries can be achieved within 24 hours, many being completed on the same day of ordering if required!!
Whether you are a builder, maintenance department, d.i.y. enthusiast, local authority, school or club, we look forward to fulfilling your building and landscaping material needs in the manner you would expect from a small, village based, family business.